The popularity of credit cards, debit cards, and other facilities for financing transactions for the consuming public at the point of sale is now without question. It is easy, and all too prevalent, that along with such popularity and ease of use of most point of sale credit facilities, comes financial difficulty for many people.
It is difficult, even for the most disciplined person, to resist the temptation of purchasing a product spontaneously. This impulse buying is often encouraged by merchants and, when done well, is highly effective.
Today, most credit facilities, such as credit cards, have ultimate spending limits, such that when the limit is exceeded (or the most recent invoice not paid promptly) the consumer user is denied further access to credit. Usually, by this time, the consumer is in financial distress.
Many credit facilities today allow consumer users to obtain current balances, as well as recent purchase information, by telephone or Internet, or other on-line access. This historical data does not adequately address the problem, as it does not help the consumer in making purchasing decisions at the time a purchase decision is being contemplated. Also, many credit facilities give annual print-out summaries of purchases by category. While such reports are nice to have at tax season, or for next year's planning, they are a backward-looking view and do not serve to help the consumer on a day-to-day basis. People on fixed incomes, low incomes and people with debt “problems,” should be on rigid budgets and may require current financial information in a more timely manner. People striving simply to “watch” their spending also require current information, if they are to make intelligent buying decisions.
Another problem exists today when some users have the use of a card issued to another person. For example, in an employer/employee situation often an employee is given use of a credit card for the purchase of goods or services which are business related. Unfortunately, such credit facilities are sometimes misused, or the balances go too high, and by the time the employer learns of the problem it may be too late to remedy the situation.